Page 129 of Hitting the Goal Line
“Hunter,” Mr. Jacobi says, arguing with him.
“A lot of shit has gone done in the last twenty-four hours and all of this isn’t helping. Take a few days and then maybe you and Blake can talk about all of this some more, but right now, I think it’s best that you go,” Hunter responds, putting his foot down.
I can see from his face that he finds this whole thing hard. Hunter has an okay relationship with his dad. From what I hear, it’s not perfect but it’s decent. He’s trying his hardest to be a respectful son, but right now he is choosing his brother over their dad.
“Is that what you want?” Roy asks, turning to Blake in the process. There’s hurt in his facial expression and seeing it has new tears springing into my eyes. I’ve never seen him like this.
Blake turns fully to face him, and he must see the same thing that I do because he lets out a sigh and hangs his head a bit before he answers.
“I want a lot of things, dad, especially when it comes to you, but Hunter is right,” Blake says, raising his head and look at his father. “These last twenty-four hours have been a lot. And having a screaming match about how some parts of childhood were shitty, isn’t helping anything. Hunter and Isaac are right and I think that you should go.”
“Blake,” Roy starts to argue, but Blake holds up a hand stopping him.
“Asking you to leave, isn’t me cutting you out of my life, dad. It’s me setting a boundary. I would fucking love to have a decent relationship with you, especially one where I don’t have to think that you’re only coming around because of my career. I would fucking love it if I didn’t cringe every single time I see your name come across my screen. But we aren’t going to get there today. You’re pissed, I’m pissed and screaming at each other isn’t going to fix things. It will just make things worse.” Blake shakes his head and releases a sigh before continuing. “We can meet up whenever you want and hash it out then, but for now, I think you should go.”
For the first time since he walked in, or maybe since I’ve known the man, Roy Jacobi looks defeated and completely sadden at the idea of leaving.
It’s like he’s just realizing how strained his relationship with his kids really is.
As I watch him, I can’t help but to realize just how alike he and Blake are, and seeing that expression come across both of their faces, breaks my heart,
Both him and Blake aren’t perfect, they both are partly at fault for the type of relationship that they have, but hopefully, this opens a door for them.
Hopefully Roy leaves here today and starts thinking about how to make his relationship with children better. Because if they continue down this path, nobody is going to be happy.
After a long minute or two, Roy lets out a sigh. “Okay, I’ll head out,” He announces before looking straight to Blake again. “The second you get back to Chicago, you call me to finish this conversation.” Roy orders, hurt still very much present on his face, but even with the hurt in his eyes he still finds it in him to point a finger at Blake as if he were a petulant child.
Blakes face gets hard for a second, but he answers his dad. “I will.”
Roy throws him a curt nod, before turning to look at the rest of the individuals in the room.
“I’ll be on my way,” he announces, his head bowing a bit before turning to Hunter. “I’ll check in with you later,” he says, which just earns him a nod from his son.
As Roy starts making his way out of the living room, Blake lets out a sigh of relief, one that relaxes his shoulders beyond belief, and reaches for my hand.
I interlace our fingers and hold on to his hand as tightly as I can.
My hold on him grows even tighter when I notice that Roy stops at the edge of the living room.
“Blake,” he calls out, grabbing everyone’s attention again. We all watch as he stands there, looking as if he’s lost for words and doesn’t really know what to say. Eventually, he is able to find the words and his voice. “I’m sorry.”
Two words full of so much weight, and everyone here can feel it.
Blake looks up at his dad for a good minute, not saying a single word.
It’s as he tightens his hands around mine, like he is gathering strength, that he speaks. “I’m sorry too.”
With that, Roy gives him a nod and leaves the living room, and a few seconds later the house.
Emotion continues to circulate throughout the room for a few minutes, everyone not saying a single word.
We stay like that for about a minute until Hunter finally breaks the silence.
“I guess one good thing came out of all of this,” he says, everyone in the room looking over at him.
“What good thing?” Selena asks, looking a bit confused.
I notice a smirk form on Hunter’s face as he makes eye contact with me.
